Introducing sftrack: A framework for movement data in R

Matthew Boone, Rocio Joo, Mathieu Basille
Ecology Society of America conference 2020

History of movement data


  • Tracking data
    • discrete points
    • home range analysis, resource selection functions, etc…
  • Movement data
    • series of steps
    • Hidden-Markov Models, step selection functions, etc…

History of movement data


  • Proliferation of study in the last 20 years.
  • Devices: gps, satellite, accelerometer, light loggers, cameras, telemetry, etc…
  • Data sizes increasing rapidly with more sensors

Software used in the field of Movement Ecology

Core components yet to be installed


  • tibble methods
  • expanded ggplot methods (limited currently)
  • base plot functions need to be expanding to link completely with sf plot methods.
  • Consensus on naming
  • Standards, DBS connections? WKT?

How can you help?


  • Install and try it out! github.com/mablab/sftrack
  • Need input from users + developers
  • Need feedback on final specifications of the framework
    • specifically on sftraj class and grouping structure

Thank You





@birderboone
github/birderboone
mablab.org